There is conventionally known a connector terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1, which is connected to an end of a coated wire constituting a wire harness, for electrically connecting the coated wire to a partner terminal. This connector terminal is shown in FIG. 35. The shown connector terminal, a connector terminal 120, has a terminal inserting portion 130 into which a partner terminal is inserted (connected), and a wire connecting portion 150 to which one end of a coated wire is connected. The terminal inserting portion 130 and the wire connecting portion 150 are so disposed at the front and back that the terminal inserting portion 130 is at the front and the wire connecting portion 150 is at the back, respective axis directions of the portions are on the same or substantially the same line (that is, disposed in a series in the front and back directions).
The shown terminal inserting portion 130 is a female type, formed in a tube shape (a rectangular tube shape) having an opening at its end so as to allow the partner male terminal to be inserted (fitted) along the inserting direction.
The wire connecting portion 150 has a bottom wall 152 extending beyond the terminal inserting portion 130 backward along the axis direction (inserting direction of the partner male terminal), a pair of conductor barrels 154 and 154 rising from both edges of the bottom wall 152 respectively, and a pair of insulation barrels 156 and 156, the pair of conductor barrels 154 and 154 and the pair of insulation barrels 156 and 156 disposed at the front and back along the axis direction of the bottom wall 152. The conductor barrels 154 and 154 are so caulked and crimped as to enclose the exposed core wires of the end of the coated wire placed on the bottom wall 152 between the conductor barrels 154 and 154. In the same manner, the insulation barrels 156 and 156 are so caulked and crimped as to enclose the insulated coating near the exposed core of the coated wire placed on the bottom wall 152 between the insulation barrels 156 and 156.
The connector terminal 120 is held in a given connector housing (not shown). Specifically, the connector housing is formed with a plurality of cavities (terminal holders), into which the connector terminals 120 are inserted in the axis direction respectively. The connector terminals are entirely inserted into the connector housing, which requires the overall length of the connector less than the length of the connector terminal to be inserted, that is, a sum of the length of the terminal inserting portion 130 and the length of the wire connecting portion 150 in the axis direction.
On the other hand, an operation of fitting the connector with the partner connector or separating the connector from the partner connector requires a space (space for fitting operation) greater than the overall length of the connector at the front of the partner connector. However, sufficiently finding the space for fitting operation is difficult, because of the recent increase in the number of components due to the higher performance and multi-functions of various equipment, and the downsizing of the entire equipment to save installation space and cost. In an insufficient space for fitting operation, the fitting or separation operation between the connectors is difficult, and the wiring operation is extremely difficult and complicated.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-228759